GRA Weekly

September 15, 2022

This week's newsletter is brought to you by GRA Corporate Partner, Society Insurance.

SCAM ALERTS IN GEORGIA

Gift Cards

As the holiday season approaches, be aware of growing gift card scams. Recently, some restaurateurs have seen an increase of individuals purchasing online gift cards with stolen credit cards. These individuals are using the gift cards the same day and are neglecting to tip the servers who take care of them. We recommend that you reach out to your gift card supplier for information on what protection can be offered to you regarding gift card fraud. Please check with your processor or POS to see if they have a service or software that would address this issue. If you have any questions or would like more information, contact us and we would be happy to connect you with a trusted partner to assist.

Health Inspectors

Instances of individuals posing as health inspectors are on the rise. In many cases, individuals will contact a restaurant and demand payment for the inspection fee. Please be aware that inspection fees are only charged when a restaurant requests an additional inspection or a re-inspection. Also, the Health Department will bill the restaurant and will not ask for payment at the time of the inspection. If you ever have any doubts or want to verify that the health inspector is legitimate, you can reach out to your local health department or contact the State Health Department. If you need assistance contacting your local health department, you can contact us and we will get you the proper information.

Reminder: Questions to know when Health Inspector Arrives

Georgia Food Code mandates that every location have one Certified Food Service Manager (CFSM). However, if the CFSM is not there when a health inspector arrives, then the person in charge must be able to answer certain questions. See Georgia Food Code 511-6-1-.03(c) Correct Answers to Food Safety Questions to make sure all people in charge are prepared. Learn more.

KILLER IN THE KITCHEN

Killer in the Kitchen: Restaurants Face an Evolving Epidemic of Addiction

The nation’s restaurants have long been havens for drinking and drug use. But the influx of dangerous new drugs like fentanyl, coupled with the stress from the pandemic and its impacts, have made matters far more deadly. Read more.

4 Ways restaurants can put a dent in substance abuse

Restaurants find the secret to a healthier workplace is already on the payroll

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER!

Please join us for an unforgettable evening celebrating Georgia's Best & Brightest!

The Georgia Restaurant Association invites you to join us for the 14th Annual GRACE Awards gala, an event that recognizes hospitality and foodservice professionals for excellence and achievement in their fields.

Help us celebrate the amazing Georgia Restaurant Industry! Last chance to register, tickets are almost sold out!

September 27 | Georgia Aquarium

2022 GRACE AWARDS FINALISTS + HONOREES

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE

Dr. Debra F. Cannon, Ph.D.

Georgia State University | Robinson College of Business | Cecil B. Day School of Hospitality

Read Press Release

RESTAURATEUR OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

Amici Food Group (Michael Torino + Chris Torino)

PITA Mediterranean Street Food (Nour Rabai)

Southern Proper Hospitality (Chris Hadermann)

VanTrece Hospitality (Deborah VanTrece)

RESTAURATEUR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

Lil Ice Cream Dude Cool World Ice Cream Shop (Victor “Beau” Shell)

MAD Hospitality (Preston Snyder)

Mukja Korean Fried Chicken (Sean Chang)

Southern Belle + Georgia Boy (Joey Ward)

INDUSTRY PARTNER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

Goliath Consulting Group

Melissa Libby & Associates

Savannah Bee Company

HOSPITALITY HERO OF THE YEAR FINALISTS

Gathering Industries (Alex Reethof)

RO Hospitality (Ryan Pernice)

Sterling Hospitality (John C. Metz)

RESTAURANT MANAGER OF THE YEAR HONOREE

Pepe Fundora, Casa Nuova Italian Restaurant and Cork & Glass

RESTAURANT EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR HONOREE

Katherine Najera, Willy’s Mexicana Grill

PROSTART TEACHER OF THE YEAR HONOREE

Elissa Oliver, Riverwood International Charter School

PROSTART STUDENT OF THE YEAR HONOREE

Jennifer Pacheco, Maxwell High School of Technology

CHAIRMAN'S HONOREE

Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller, Georgia State Senate

GEORGIA RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES + GEORGIA ON MY MIND| PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARDS HONOREES - TO BE ANNOUNCED AT THE EVENT.

GRA IN THE NEWS

Georgia restaurants continue to feel labor crunch

Fox5 - Georgia needs 70,000 restaurant workers to serve all the patrons who are eager to eat out. Karen Bremer, who leads the state restaurant association, says labor is so tight some restaurants have been forced to shut their doors on Sunday or Monday evenings "just to give their employees a break." Read more.

DEI SURVEY REPORT SURPRISING FINDINGS

Q&A: MFHA’s president on the 2022 DEI Survey Report’s most surprising findings

SmartBrief - Employee engagement and retention are key challenges for many industries and with almost 800,000 fewer workers in the field as of April of this year compared with pre-pandemic times, according to the National Restaurant Association, foodservice is no exception. From perks to values, companies are being charged with upholding a level of job satisfaction in an unprecedented way. Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have become a basic necessity in that equation, and according to a new report produced by the National Restaurant Association, National Restaurant Association Education Foundation, the Multicultural Foodservice & Hospitality Alliance and the Cornell University Nolan School of Hotel Administration... Read more..

FEDERAL UPDATES

Swipe fees grassroots campaign floods Congress

Last week’s grassroots activation to ask the House and Senate to pass the Credit Card Competition Act of 2022 and help lower swipe fees generated 11K letters to representatives. You can join in: Take action now!

House to Examine "Barriers to Organizing"

Yesterday, the House Education & Labor Committee held a hearing, “In Solidarity: Removing Barriers to Organizing.” Attached is a summary from the hearing. The panel’s questions divided along party lines, as most House Democrats expressed support for the PRO Act and increased NLRB enforcement, while House Republicans were alarm.

As the National Restaurant Association cited in its letter submitted for the record, restaurant and foodservice wages have risen over 10% year-over-year, nearly double that of the entire private sector workforce. However, the Association strongly opposes:

The PRO Act
The NLRB’s recently proposed Joint Employer standard
Any attempt to end or influence secret ballot for union organizing elections

FOUR MEANINGFUL BENEFITS TO ATTRACT QUALITY EMPLOYEES

Four Meaningful Benefits to Attract Quality Employees

Today’s job market is competitive, but salary is not the only thing that attracts prospective employees to a company. Benefits are just as important, if not more so. Here are four benefits that can make or break employee recruitment and retention efforts.

Read about them here.

WHAT'S NEXT FOR TIPPING?

With the old guidelines this scrambled, what's next for tipping?

Restaurant Business - Sweet & Sour: The longstanding protocols for who, what and when to tip have been upended. Here’s how the turmoil could shake out.

A short time back, I had a leaky kitchen faucet. So as you might expect, Peter, I called for help--in this case a competent plumbing pro I’d used in the past. The drip duly repaired, he offered me his smart-phone invoice for on-the-spot payment, and you can imagine my surprise when, below the service fee and the trip charge, there was a line for tips. Wait, what? Trying to look cool, I tapped the 20% box and spent the rest of the day wondering when exactly such tradesmen had joined the ranks of tipped employees... Read more.

Tip Regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

Tips regulations currently in effect: Title 20, Subpart D - Tipped Employees § 531.50

SUSTAINABILITY + EDUCATION

Food Safety & Quality Assurance Experts Panel

At 3:00PM on Monday, September 26, 2022, ServSafe & Ecolab are hosting a Food Safety & Quality Assurance Experts Panel. From product recalls, to dealing with Covid-19 variants, to integrating vastly different food safety cultures when acquiring a new restaurant business, the work of a food safety and quality assurance director is never done! Hear directly from your peers on this epic panel of experts who communicate their current struggles, lessons learned, and future plans.

Moderator:
Steven A. Lyon, Ph.D., Director, Food Safety, Chick-fil-A, Inc.

Panelists include:
Corrin A. Howard, MPH, Senior Regulatory Compliance Supervisor, Wawa Food Markets
Thomas Yurchak, Director, Quality Assurance & Food Safety, Restaurant Growth Services, LLC
Sarah Herringshaw, Director, Restaurant Quality Assurance, The Wendy's Company

Monday, September 26 | 3:00PM